The process of getting Ethics Approval

Applicants should read the information in this website before taking any steps in applying.

The applicant should use the templates provided in the Document templates section to prepare any supporting material. At the very minimum (and most cases) this includes three things:

1. The participant information sheet

2. The participant consent form

3. The list of questions to the asked (as a document) 

The application for is in the section Apply here

• If the applicant is a student go to step 3.

• If the applicant is a member of staff go to step 4.

This step applies if the applicant is a student (UG or PG). The supervisor will recieve an email that includes the application. They should read carefully the application, and any documents listed as links in the application. They can then either acknowledge the application (thus submitting it for ethics review), or return it back to the student with comments.

• • If the supervisor returns the application back to the student, the student should use the comments provided by the supervisor to update the application, and resubmit it (back to step 2).

  • If the supervisor approves the application, it is formally submitted to the system (go to step 4).

If the application is deemed low risk the Ethics administrator will assign 1 reviewer (who could be the supervisor)

If the application is deemed high risk the Ethics administrator will assign 3 reviewers (none of which is the supervisor)

Go to step 5

Similarly to step 3, the Ethics reviewer(s) should read carefully the application, and any documents listed as links in the application. They can then either: 

• Approve the application (go  to step 6), or 

• Return it back to the applicant with comments about modifications. Notice that in case of a high risk research, the application will have to be approved by ALL reviewers. If the application is returned to the applicant, the process will restart from step 2 using the reviewers comments as a guide.

The applicant receives an approval letter confirming that they can now proceed to data collection. This letter is also sent to the supervisor if the applicant is a student.